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Track & Field Off and Running at Pac-10 Championships

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of Arizona's men's and women's track and field teams completed the first day of competition at the 2003 Pac-10 Championships. Saturday's competition consisted of 13 event finals and preliminary action in 16 events. At the completion of the day's events, the Wildcat men stood in ninth place with four points, and the UA women were eighth with 16 points.

Sophomore Sharifa Jones got things started for the Wildcats in the women's long jump. Jones qualified for the finals on her third jump, after fouling on her first two attempts. She placed fourth in the competition with a leap of 19 feet, 10 ï¿½ inches (6.05m). Jones also went on to qualify with the fourth fastest time in the 100 meter hurdles, finishing in 13.57 seconds.

The men's 4x100 meter relay team qualified for Sunday's final, clocking a time of 40.95 seconds in the preliminaries. The team was made up of Jeff Hunter, Jevon Mason, Matt Lea and Adrain Thomas. Hunter also qualified in both the 110 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles. He ran a personal best time of 13.76 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles, while clocking a 51.97 in the intermediate hurdles. Lea and Mason sprinted their way into the 400 meter final. Lea qualified with a time of 47.16, while Mason crossed the line in 47.38 seconds.

Beth Hoge represented the Wildcats in the women's 1,500 meter preliminary action. In her heat, she finished second in a time of 4:29.67 to qualify for Sunday's final. Angel Perkins made it known that she meant business when she took to the track in the women's 400 meter preliminaries. She qualified with the fastest time of the day in 52.73 seconds.

Julie DeMarni added her share to the Wildcats' point total with a third-place showing in the women's javelin. Her throw of 158 feet earned six points for the UA women. In the women's 100 meters, Seynabou Ndiaye qualified for the final with a time of 11.70. Marquita Taylor decided her season wasn't over yet, as she qualified for the NCAA Regional in the 100 meters, clocking a time of 11.80 in her preliminary heat.

In the men's long jump, Mark Ramos led the way for the Wildcats. He finished fifth overall with a leap of 24 feet, 0 ï¿½ inches (7.32m). Aaron Powell finished fifth in his heat of the men's 800 meters in a time of 1:52.89, just short of qualifying for the final. In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Josh Ludwig finished eighth overall in 9:07.84 to add a point the Arizona total. Teammate Mark Anderson was right behind him in ninth, finishing in 9:08.69.

Amber Varner helped contribute to the day one point total for the UA women with a seventh-place finish in the shot put. She finished with a best throw of 47 feet, 1 inch (14.35m). Closing out the day for the women, Adrienne Goeller held on in a grueling 10,000 meter race to finish eighth in a personal best time of 36:07.96.

Kyle Goklish finished the day off the Wildcats, also finishing eighth in the 10,000 meters. Goklish finished in 30:20.90 to add one more point for the UA men.

The Wildcats will conclude Pac-10 Competition tomorrow at Cromwell Field at Katherine B. Loker Stadium on the campus of USC. The day's action begins with the women's triple jump at 12 p.m. PT.